Google is known for delivering the best experience for its users. When websites don’t meet the search engine's expectations, Google may issue a penalty in order to protect their users from low-quality content, spammy links, or other violations of Google's webmaster guidelines.
Unfortunately, if you have been penalized by Google, it can be difficult to recover. You'll need to identify which type of penalty you are facing, take a look at your website's performance and content, and create a plan to address the issues.
Sometimes, the penalty is also imposed, even if the mistake was unintentional. Before you can fix a penalty, however, you need to identify the cause. This article will explore the types of penalties, how to identify them, and best practices for recovering from a Google penalty.
Whether you have an in-house team or are planning to opt for professional SEO services in India, this article will help.
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What is a Google penalty?
A Google penalty is a negative action taken by the search engine when it finds violations of its webmaster guidelines. Violations could include content that is designed to manipulate search engine rankings, or a website that has been hacked with malicious content. A penalty can result in your website being removed from the SERPs or being demoted in the search engine rankings.
Thus, it becomes crucial for website owners to identify the cause of the Google penalty and take steps to recover from it. The most common types of penalties can be divided into two categories: Manual Actions and Algorithmic Penalties.
Manual Actions: These are penalties that are imposed directly by Google's search quality team. They can be triggered by a manual review of your website, or if you have received too many complaints from users. When this type of penalty is imposed, Google will send an email to your website's registered owner informing them of the issue.
Algorithmic Penalties: These are penalties that occur when Google's algorithms detect violations of its webmaster guidelines. These penalties are often less severe than manual actions and can be addressed by making changes to your website's content.
Types of penalties and tips to recover from them:
Cloaking or sneaky redirects:
Cloaking is a black-hat SEO technique which involves serving a different page to search engine crawlers than the one that is presented to users. This is done by delivering different content, or redirecting users to a different page than the one they requested. Google will penalize websites that are found to be using this technique.
The best way to recover from a cloaking penalty is to remove the affected pages, or use 301 redirects in order to ensure that users and search engine crawlers are presented with the same content.
Sneaky mobile redirection:
Google’s mobile-friendly algorithm will penalize websites that are found to be sending users on different devices (e.g. desktop versus a smartphone) to different pages of their website, which can result in a lower ranking for all of the affected pages. It's caused by the website redirecting users on different devices to different URLs.
To recover from a sneaky mobile redirection penalty, you should make sure that all users on different devices are being sent to the same page. You can also use a mobile-friendly test tool to check if your website is optimized for mobile devices. Consider opting for SEO packages if you don't have an in-house team.
Thin content:
Google's algorithms are designed to reward websites with higher rankings if they contain quality, in-depth content. If your website contains pages with very little content, or a large number of low-quality pages, then it could be penalized by Google.
In order to recover from this penalty, you should make sure that all of your pages contain sufficient content that adds value to users. While creating content, focus on how you can resolve the problems of your target readers. Also, look for opportunities to add value with visuals such as videos, images and infographics.
Hacked website:
If your website has been hacked, it could be penalized by Google in order to protect its users from malicious content or spam. There are several ways a website can be hacked, such as SQL injection attacks and cross-site scripting. Also, if the SSL certificate of your website has expired, the website will be flagged.
To recover from this penalty, you should make sure that all vulnerable areas of your website have been secured. This includes ensuring that all passwords are strong, regularly updating software and plugins, and monitoring for any suspicious activity on your website. Furthermore, you should also submit a reconsideration request to Google to inform them that you have taken the necessary steps to secure your website.
Keywords stuffing or hidden content:
Keyword stuffing is a black-hat SEO technique which involves adding excessive numbers of keywords to content in order to manipulate the ranking of a web page. Furthermore, hidden content refers to text which is rendered invisible by using techniques such as changing the font color to match the background color or inserting very small text. Both of these techniques can be penalized by Google.
In order to recover from this penalty, you should make sure that all of your content is unique and written for readers, not search engines. Furthermore, avoid using techniques such as keyword stuffing or hidden content as these techniques can have a negative impact on your website’s rankings. You can also consider opting for professional SEO services in India to ensure that website is in compliance with Google’s guidelines.
Wrapping up!
Recovering from a Google penalty can be a difficult process but with the right steps, it is possible. Make sure that all pages are compliant with Google’s guidelines and take measures to secure your website from hackers. Furthermore, focus on creating content that adds value to readers and avoid using any black-hat SEO techniques such as keyword stuffing or hidden content.
If you take all of these steps, it's possible to recover from a Google penalty and gain higher rankings in search engine results. You can also go for professional SEO packages as these services can help you get the desired results efficiently.